Surgical arm positioner with sterile disposable support

ABSTRACT

An arm retainer for supporting a patient&#39;s arm at a desired position on an articulatable support assembly secured to an operating table. The arm retainer includes a rigid arm tray ( 11 ) having a connection stud ( 12 ) protruding from the bottom side of the tray ( 11 ) for connecting the tray to the articulatable support assembly, and the tray ( 11 ) is provided with a pair of spaced openings ( 16 ) for securement of a disposable arm support liner ( 10 ) to the tray. The arm support liner ( 10 ) is comprised of a sheet of malleable material ( 13 ) with a soft engagement surface ( 14 ) for skin contact with the patient and is provided with a predetermined cut configuration for wrapping the malleable liner ( 10 ) about the patient&#39;s arm for retention of the arm therein. The line ( 10 ) has two spaced foldout tabs ( 17 ) aligned with the corresponding tray openings ( 16 ) for securing the liner to the tray ( 11 ) by folding the tabs ( 17 ) through respective of the openings ( 16 ) and thereafter against the bottom side of the tray.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/823,433, filed on May 15, 2013, for SURGICAL ARMPOSITIONER SUPPORT WITH STERILE DISPOSABLE SUPPORT LINER, the contentswhich are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a limb support andpositioning structure used for maintaining a patient's arm in thedesired position for surgery thereon. More specifically, the presentinvention relates to an operative arm support which may be articulatedto suitably support an arm during surgical operations on the shoulder ofan individual, such as illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos.8,028,702 and 8,322,342.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an arm support linerthat is disposable and removably attaches to a sterile mounting tray onthe distal end of an arm positioner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The arm retainer of the present invention is provided for supporting apatent's arm at a desired position on an articulatable support assemblythat is secured to an operating table. The arm retainer includes a rigidarm tray having a connection stud protruding from the bottom side of thetray for connecting the tray to the articulatable support assembly. Therigid arm tray has a pair of spaced openings for securement of thedisposable arm support liner to the tray. The arm support liner of thepresent invention is comprised of a sheet of malleable material with asoft engagement surface for contact with the patient's arm and the lineris further provided with a predetermined cut configuration for wrappingthe malleable liner about the patient's arm for retention. The liner isprovided with two spaced foldout tabs aligned with the tray openings forsecuring the liner to the tray by folding the tabs through respective ofthe corresponding openings and thereafter against the bottom side of thetray. After surgery, the liner is removed from the tray and disposed of,and the tray may be re-sterilized for further use. The malleablematerial of the liner may be malleable aluminum or lead, and the softengagement material covering the contact surfaces of the liner may beselected as a plastic sponge foam.

The arm retainer may further include a hand grip post that extends fromthe top side of the support tray, and the liner of the present inventionis provided with a corresponding aperture aligned with the post forpassage of the post therethrough when the liner is secured to the tray.A tubular plastic sponge sleeve may be received over the post. Themalleable arm support liner may further include hook and loop straps forsecuring the liner to the patient's arm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the followingdescription and claims. The accompanying drawing show, for the purposeof exemplification, without limiting the scope of the present inventionor the appended claims, certain practical embodiments of the presentinvention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the disposable sterile surgical armsupport liner for the arm support element of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the support liner illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation of the support liner shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a right end view of the support liner shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the disposable arm support liner of FIGS. 1through 4 illustrated in its original flat configuration prior to beingformed and modified to the configuration illustrated in the previousfigures;

FIG. 6 is an exploded or expanded respective view of the disposable armsupport liner shown in its flat pre-used configuration in combinationwith a stainless steel arm support tray that is used to support thedisposable arm support liner thereby forming the support of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the stainless steel arm support tray shown inthe bottom portion of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view in side elevation of the arm support tray shown in FIG.7;

FIG. 9 is a right end view of the arm support tray shown in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a view in side elevation illustrating the disposable armsupport liner of the present invention as shown in its flat unused stateand secured to the stainless steel arm support tray; and

FIG. 11 illustrates the combination shown in FIG. 10 with the disposablemalleable support liner being bent or formed and assembled to secure apatient's arm thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings, the disposable sterile arm support liner 10is used to retain the arm of a patient therein in a sterile conditionand to also retain the liner 10 secured to the underlying stainlesssteel arm support tray 11. Stainless steel arm support tray 11 is inturn secured to the distal end of an articulating positioning arm (notshown) of the type, for example, illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,028,702and 8,322,342. It is desirable that such an articulating support arm beadjustable about multiple pivot joints with a single button or leverthat unlocks all joints simultaneously, thereby unlocking them andallowing the distal end of the arm to be freely moved about six axes (x,y, z, rotation and translation), and securely fixed anywhere within theoperating radius of the device by releasing a button or lever, therebylocking all joints simultaneously and fixing the position of thepatient's retained arm.

Such an articulating arm is normally removably attached to the side railof an operating table using a clamp or clip. The distal end of thearticulating arm is provided with a quick release attachment thatincludes a non-round bore (not shown), which does not allow forrotation, to correspondingly and cooperatively received mountingprotrusion 12 in the bottom of stainless steel arm support tray 11. Thesecuring protrusion 12 is engaged with a spring loaded locking clipwhich transversely engages the annular groove 13 in mounting protrusion12 when protrusion 12 is pressed into the bore of the distal end of thearticulatable support arm. A similar connection is illustrated in U.S.Pat. No. 8,028,702.

The sterile and disposable arm holding or supporting attachment liner 10consists of a flat malleable material 13, such as lead or aluminum, thatis able to be plastically deformed or bent to a new final shape orconfiguration by hand from a flat configuration as shown in FIGS. 5 and6, to a arm retaining position with end curvatures as illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 11. The initially flat malleable material 13 is embeddedwithin or laminated by a foam covering 14 whereby any sharp edges orhard surfaces of the malleable material are covered and padded toprotect the patient's arm. Adjustable hook and loop straps 15, such asVelcro™, are also secured to the body of the liner 10 in order to allowfor tight wrapping of the liner ears around the patient's forearm andwrist in a manner illustrated in FIG. 1.

The stainless steel arm support tray 11 is provided with a spaced pairof openings 16 which permit locking tabs 17 of liner 10 to be bentdownwardly and passed through the apertures provided respectively byopenings 16 and then bent therearound and under the supporting tray 11,thus firmly securing the sterile disposable arm support liner 10 to thearm support tray 11, which is also usually sterilized.

A vertical post 20 is secured to the tray 11 which provides a post forthe patient's hand to wrap around when in position. Post 20 is alsoprotected with a grip cover 21 that is also disposable and sterile. Post20 maintains the patient's forearm in the proper position.

Vertical post 20 passes through a corresponding aperture 22 provided inliner 10 so that the post 20 is exposed on the upper side of liner 10and then is covered with the foam post or grip cover 21.

The disposable arm support liner 10 is folded up at its ends behind theelbow at 24 and in front of the hand at end 25 allowing for propersupport of the forearm and this also assists in preventing the forearmfrom sliding.

For additional securement, a secondary wrap may be provided around thepatient's arm and secured to the support system by using a sterileelastic self-binding band, such as sold under the trademark Coban, tofurther secure the arm.

Accordingly, the sterile disposable arm support liner 10 is attached tothe reusable component of the arm holder, namely the sterile stainlesssteel arm support tray 11, and the patient's arm is placed on top of thesterile disposable support liner 10. The ends 25 and 24 of the liner 10would then be bent up in front of the hand and behind the elbow towardthe patient's shoulder, thereby creating a rigid cage for support of thepatient's arm. Velcro straps 15 would then be tightly wrapped around thepatient's arm with the patient's hand wrapped around grip cover 21,further securing the arm to the formed cage, and Coban or similarelastic wrap would then be wrapped around the arm and arm holder,including liner 10 and support tray 11.

The arm holder, including liner 10 and support tray 11, would then havebottom securing protrusion 12 inserted into the bore at the distal endof the articulating arm positioner, thus securely locking the arm holderto the arm positioner.

We claim:
 1. An arm retainer for supporting a patient's arm at a desiredposition on an articulatable support assembly for securement to anoperating table, the arm retainer including: a rigid arm tray having aconnection stud protruding from a bottom side of said tray forconnecting said tray to an articulatable support assembly, said trayhaving a pair of spaced openings for securement of a disposable armsupport liner to said tray; said arm support liner comprised of a sheetof malleable material with a soft engagement surface and having apredetermined cut configuration for wrapping or forming the malleableliner about a patient's arm for retention; said liner having two spacedfoldout tabs aligned with said tray openings for securing said liner tosaid tray by folding said tabs through respective of said openings andthereafter against the bottom side of said tray.
 2. The arm retainer ofclaim 1, wherein said malleable material is aluminum or lead.
 3. The armretainer of claim 1, wherein said soft engagement material is a plasticsponge foam.
 4. The arm retainer of claim 1, including a hand grip postextending from a top side of said tray and said liner having acorresponding aperture aligned with said post for passage of said posttherethrough when said liner is secured to said tray.
 5. The armretainer of claim 4, including a tubular plastic sponge sleeve receivedover said post.
 6. The arm retainer of claim 1, said arm support linerincluding hook and loop straps for securing said liner to the patient'sarm.